Kael did not have to wait very long for the setup to arrive.
After bringing everything into his room, he spent the next half hour assembling it piece by piece. He took his time with it, carefully arranging every component and making sure everything was exactly where he wanted it.
Once he was finally done, he stepped back and admired the result.
It was beautiful.
No, beautiful wasn’t enough.
It was glorious.
The sleek monitors, the polished desk, the upgraded hardware, everything looked leagues better than his old setup. Even without turning it on, anyone could tell it was in an entirely different class. And once he powered it up, the difference became even more obvious.
A satisfied smile appeared on Kael’s face.
Now this was worth the money.
He dropped into the chair and immediately logged back into his gaming account. Thankfully, all his data was still there. Progress, saves, purchases, everything had been preserved.
Without wasting any time, he launched one of his favorite games and began playing.
Soon, he became completely immersed.
Hours slipped by unnoticed.
The outside world faded away as his attention remained glued to the screen.
Only when someone lightly tapped his shoulder did he finally break out of his concentration.
Kael blinked and looked away from the monitor.
The room was noticeably darker now.
The sunlight had long since disappeared, replaced by the dim glow of evening filtering through the window.
He turned around and found Lyra standing behind him.
"Hey," he said. "When did you get back?"
"A while ago," Lyra shrugged. "You looked pretty immersed, so I decided not to disturb you."
Her gaze briefly swept across the expensive gaming setup.
She did not seem shocked by it.
It was common knowledge that Kael loved gaming.
If anything, she had been more surprised when he sold his old setup. The only reason he had done that in the first place was because they were broke and he needed money for the Hunter Exam registration.
Now that he was apparently making money again, buying a new one was hardly unexpected.
Kael leaned back slightly.
"So, how did it go?"
"Not bad."
As Lyra began speaking, Kael casually activated Eye of Judgement.
The world seemed to shift for a brief moment.
Then a status screen appeared before his eyes.
---
[Name: Lyra Voss (Fake), Nyxara Dawnfire (True Name)]
[Title: Ruinborn (Locked)]
[Class: Fire Mage, Ashen Sovereign (Locked)]
[Class Perks: Fire Manipulation, Ember Resonance]
[Level: 1] [0%]
[Health: -]
[Mana: 225]
•—Stats—•
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 9]
[Endurance: 14]
[Intelligence: 15]
[Vitality: -]
[Constitution: -]
•—Physique: Unified Chaos Body (Locked)—•
---
Kael froze, his eyes widening in shock as his mind briefly shut down.
What the hell was this? A true name? A second class? A hidden title? And what in the world was a "Unified Chaos Body"? Every line seemed more ridiculous than the last.
Before he could process any of it, another tap landed on his shoulder.
Kael blinked and snapped back to reality.
Lyra was staring at him with a concerned expression.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "You seem kind of out of it."
"Oh."
Kael quickly recovered.
"Just thinking about something. Sorry. Did you say something?"
Lyra nodded.
"I was telling you about my class."
As she spoke, she raised her hand.
A small ember of flame immediately appeared above her palm, dancing gently in the air.
The pride on her face was impossible to miss.
"I awakened a Fire Mage class."
Kael smiled.
"That’s a pretty good class."
Outwardly, he remained calm.
Internally, however, his thoughts were in complete chaos.
She didn’t mention the locked class.
Which meant she probably couldn’t see it.
The realization made him pause.
The description of Absolute Verdict had specifically mentioned that some information might exceed common knowledge.
Perhaps even Lyra herself wasn’t aware of those hidden aspects.
Maybe there were conditions required to unlock them.
As that thought crossed his mind, another possibility surfaced.
His own awakening.
The mysterious interference during his tutorial.
For the longest time, he had assumed that was where his talent came from.
But what if that wasn’t entirely true?
What if he had always possessed something extraordinary?
What if the interference had simply unlocked it?
His future self had awakened an ordinary class.
No talent.
Nothing remarkable.
Lyra appeared to be in a similar situation right now.
Maybe their true potential had always been hidden beneath layers of locks.
Before Kael could explore that line of thought any further, Lyra spoke again.
"By the way, I came to tell you dinner is ready."
She pointed toward the kitchen.
"You should come eat before it gets cold."
Kael nodded.
"Alright. I’ll be out in a minute."
"Okay."
With that, Lyra turned and left the room, the door clicking shut behind her.
Kael remained seated in silence, his brows slowly furrowing. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. His class, his talent, Lyra’s hidden class, and her hidden physique, none of it felt normal.
If he alone possessed something strange, that could still be explained away as luck.
But both of them?
That was harder to dismiss.
His thoughts drifted toward their family.
Specifically, their father.
They knew almost nothing about him.
There were no pictures.
No stories.
Every time the topic came up, their mother would immediately change the subject.
When he was younger, Kael simply assumed his father had either died or abandoned them.
As he grew older, he stopped caring.
Now, however, that curiosity had returned.
Their parents couldn’t be ordinary people if they had somehow produced children like this.
Something was hidden.
Something important.
And Kael intended to find out what it was.
The next time he visited the hospital, he would use Eye of Judgement on his mother.
Perhaps that would provide some answers.
Then there was himself.
If Lyra had so many hidden aspects, what about him?
Could there be things inside him that were still locked away?
Curious, he immediately attempted to use Eye of Judgement on himself.
Nothing happened. No information appeared. Kael frowned. It seemed he’d have to figure that out another way.
Another thing that bothered him was Lyra’s Health or rather, the complete lack of it. Her Health value was blank, along with her Vitality and Constitution stats. That made no sense. Everyone had Health.
Even someone on the verge of death still possessed a value.
Yet Lyra’s simply wasn’t there.
The possibilities that created were endless.
One particularly ridiculous thought even crossed his mind.
Immortality.
But he quickly dismissed it.
There was nowhere near enough information to jump to conclusions like that.
Making assumptions without evidence was a good way to make mistakes.
For now, all he could do was investigate slowly.
With a sigh, Kael pushed himself to his feet and switched off the gaming setup.
Then he left the room and headed toward the kitchen.
Dinner was already waiting.
The meal itself was peaceful.
Lyra was unusually talkative throughout the entire thing, happily talking about her awakening and tutorial experience.
She looked genuinely excited.
Kael didn’t say much.
His mind was occupied with far too many things.
Most of the time, he simply listened with a smile and occasionally responded whenever needed.
Eventually, dinner ended.
The dishes were cleaned.
The conversation wound down.
Afterward, Kael returned to his room.
Normally he would have gone back to gaming, but tonight he simply wasn’t in the mood.
There was too much on his mind.
So instead, he changed into something comfortable, climbed into bed, and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.